YouTube Premium
|parent = YouTube (Google)|website = }} YouTube Premium (formerly YouTube Red) is a paid streaming subscription service that provides advertising-free streaming of all videos hosted by YouTube, exclusive original content produced in collaboration with the site's creators, access to audio-only versions of videos on the YouTube Music app, as well as offline playback and playback of videos on mobile devices. The service was originally launched in November 2014 as Music Key, offering only advertisement-free streaming of music videos from participating labels on YouTube and Google Play Music. The service was then revised and relaunched as YouTube Red on October 31, 2015, expanding its scope to offer advertisement-free access to all YouTube videos, as opposed to just music. YouTube announced the rebranding of the service as YouTube Premium on May 17, 2018, alongside the return of a separate, YouTube Music subscription service. However, in November 2018, a YouTube Representative told CNET, Variety. and many other sources that YouTube Premium would no longer keep YouTube Original shows behind a pay wall, and that during 2019, they would offer "windows" to allow certain shows the ability to be shown free. However, by 2020, most (if not all) YouTube Original Shows would be free with advertisements. For Premium subscribers, YouTube Premium will remain available to give advertisement-free services, access to shows that are not brought out from behind the paywall, and other exclusive features. History The service was first unveiled in November 2014 as Music Key, serving as a collaboration between YouTube and Google Play Music, and meant to succeed the former's own subscription service. Music Key offered ad-free playback of music videos from participating labels hosted on YouTube, as well as background and offline playback of music videos on mobile devices from within the YouTube app. The service also included access to Google Play Music All Access, which provides ad-free audio streaming of a library of music. Alongside Music Key, Google also introduced tighter integration between Play Music and YouTube's apps, including the sharing of music recommendations, and access to YouTube's music videos from within the Play Music app. Music Key was not YouTube's first foray into premium content, having launched film rentals in 2010, and premium, subscription-based channels in 2013. During its invite-only beta, Music Key faced mixed reception due to the limited scope of the offering; YouTube's chief business officer Robert Kyncl explained that his daughter was confused over why videos of songs from Frozen were not "music" in the scope of the service, and thus not advertisement-free. These concerns and others led to a revamping of the Music Key concept to create YouTube Red; unlike Music Key, YouTube Red was designed to provide ad-free streaming to all videos, rather than just music content. This shift required YouTube to seek permission from its content creators and rights holders to allow their content to be part of the ad-free service; under the new contract terms, partners would receive a share of the total revenue from YouTube Red subscriptions, as determined by how much their content is viewed by subscribers. YouTube also sought to compete against sites such as Netflix, Prime Video and Hulu by offering original content (YouTube Originals) as part of the subscription service, leveraging prominent YouTube personalities in combination with professional producers. Robert Kyncl acknowledged that while many of YouTube's prominent personalities had built their followings and created content while operating on a "shoestring budget", he admitted that "in order to scale up, it takes a different kind of enterprise, a different kind of skill set" such as story-telling and "showrunning". Prominent YouTube personality PewDiePie, who was involved in one of the planned originals for the service, explained that the service was meant to mitigate profits lost due to the use of ad blocking. YouTube Red was officially unveiled on October 21, 2015. On May 18, 2016, YouTube Red and YouTube Music launched in Australia and New Zealand, the first countries to gain access to the service outside the United States. On August 3, 2016, YouTube Red support was added to the YouTube Kids app. Later that month the service launched in Mexico . On December 6, 2016, YouTube Red expanded to South Korea."Google launches ad-free YouTube subscription service in Korea", Korea Herald. As YouTube Premium On May 17, 2018, YouTube announced the upcoming rebranding of the service as YouTube Premium, which officially took effect on June 18. The rebranding came alongside the re-launch of YouTube Music, with a separate subscription service focused solely on music (that, as before, is bundled with the larger YouTube Premium service, and also offered to Google Play Music subscribers). YouTube also announced that the price of the service would increase from US$9.99 to US$11.99 per-month for new subscribers; the existing pricing, as well as bundling of YouTube Premium benefits with Google Play Music subscriptions, is grandfathered for those who subscribed prior to the rebranding. Alongside the rebranding, the services also expanded into Canada, and 11 European countries (including Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), with more expansion to come in the future. On August 28, 2018, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music expanded to Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, followed by Brazil in September and Chile, Colombia, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Switzerland, and Ukraine in November. On March 12, 2019, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music launched in Argentina and India. On May 14, 2019, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music launched in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria. On July 17, 2019, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music was launched in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, Turkey and Iceland. Features A YouTube Premium subscription allows users to watch videos on YouTube without advertisements across the website and its mobile apps, including the dedicated YouTube Music, YouTube Gaming, and YouTube Kids apps. Through the apps, users can also save videos to their device for offline viewing, play them in the background, and in picture-in-picture mode on Android Oreo. YouTube Premium also offers original content that is exclusive to subscribers, which is created and published by YouTube's largest creators. The service also offers ad-free music streaming through the YouTube Music Premium and Google Play Music services. It also enables the user to 'listen in the background' on all videos and music being played through a mobile device. Content YouTube Premium offers original films and series produced in collaboration with professional studios and YouTube personalities. For multi-episode series, the first episode of a YouTube Premium original series is available free. In selected countries where the service is not yet available, individual episodes can also be purchased through YouTube or Google Play Movies & TV. On February 28, 2017, YouTube launched YouTube TV, a paid live internet TV service currently only available in the United States. YouTube TV subscribers have access to YouTube Premium content, though the programmes will have ads unless a YouTube Premium subscription is purchased. In November 2018, it was reported that Google was planning to adjust its original content strategy for YouTube Premium with a "single slate" approach, with plans to make more original content available without payment on an ad-supported basis by 2020. The Premium subscription would still cover ad-free access, and timed exclusivity windows for original content. Reception Licensing terms In May 2014, prior to the official unveiling of the Music Key service, the independent music trade organization Worldwide Independent Network alleged that YouTube was using non-negotiable contracts with independent labels that were "undervalued" in comparison to other streaming services, and stated that YouTube threatened to block a label's videos from public access if they did not agree to the new terms. In a statement to the Financial Times in June 2014, Robert Kyncl confirmed that these measures were "to ensure that all content on the platform is governed by its new contractual terms". Stating that 90% of labels had reached deals, he went on to say that "while we wish that we had a 100% success rate, we understand that is not likely an achievable goal and therefore it is our responsibility to our users and the industry to launch the enhanced music experience". The Financial Times later reported that YouTube had reached an aggregate deal with Merlin Network—a trade group representing over 20,000 independent labels, for their inclusion in the service. However, YouTube itself has not confirmed the deal. Following the unveiling of YouTube Red, it was stated that these same contractual requirements would now apply to all YouTube Partner Program members; partners who do not accept the new terms and revenue sharing agreements related to the YouTube Red service will have their videos blocked entirely in regions where YouTube Red is available. The YouTube channels of ESPN were a notable party affected by the change; a representative of ESPN's parent, The Walt Disney Company, stated that conflicts with third-party rightsholders in regards to sports footage contained in ESPN's YouTube videos prevented them from being offered under the new terms. A limited number of older videos remain on ESPN's main channel. Similarly, a large amount of content licensed by Japanese record labels became unavailable in regions where YouTube Red is available. It was believed that the ability to download videos for offline viewing in YouTube Red was a subject of hesitation for Japanese media companies due to the need to monitor when, where, and how content is being used in accordance with Japanese copyright laws, hence their content was blocked under the new requirements. See also * Subscription video on demand References External links * Category:Companies Category:2014 establishments in California Category:Internet properties established in 2015 Category:YouTube Premium Category:Subscription video on demand services Category:Companies established in 2015